Lawyer: Myanmar Possibly Rushing Suu Kyi's Trial

A boy holds a poster of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during anti-Myanmar government...

A boy holds a poster of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during anti-Myanmar government protest Monday, May 18, 2009, outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. The demonstrators were calling on Myanmar's military junta to free Suu Kyi from detention. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

(AP)

Myanmar's military regime appeared to be rushing through the trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with five witnesses testifying for the prosecution Tuesday. Her followers say the proceedings are designed to ensure the Nobel Peace laureate remains locked up during elections next year.

Suu Kyi, who has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years, is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing a visitor to stay at her home without official permission. The offense is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

She is standing trial with two female members of her party who live with her, and John W. Yettaw, the American man who triggered the charges by swimming to Suu Kyi's property under the cover of darkness earlier this month and sneaking uninvited into her home.

Related

Clinton: Myanmar Should Release Opposition Leader

Myanmar's Top Activist Suu Kyi on Trial

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to Be Tried

Suu Kyi had been scheduled to be freed May 27 after six consecutive years under house arrest. The charges against her are widely seen as a pretext for her to stay in detention during polls scheduled for next year — the culmination of the junta's "roadmap to democracy," which has been criticized as a fig leaf for continued military rule.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. It last held an election in 1990, but the junta refused to honor the results after a landslide victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

Nyan Win, a party spokesman and one of her four lawyers, said five of the prosecution's 22 scheduled witnesses testified Tuesday.

"Now it is very clear that they are trying to speed up the trial," he told reporters at party headquarters. "If it goes on at this rate, it could even be over by next week."

Asked what the motive might be for speeding up the trial, he said "They must have their plans, though I don't know." Nyan Win had speculated Monday that the trial could last up to three months.

The family of 53-year-old Yettaw, of Falcon Missouri, describes him as a well-intentioned admirer of Suu Kyi who merely wanted to interview her, unaware of the possible consequences. Suu Kyi's supporters have expressed anger at him for getting her into trouble.